The present invention relates to a process for making a packaged fast-cooking rice.
A conventional manufacturing process for making a packaged rice includes freeze-drying rice which is then cooked by the consumer by adding hot water. In the free-dried process rice is washed with water to remove bran, and a predetermined amount of water is added to the washed rice. The mixture is heated to produce gelatinized cooked rice, and in order to remove pasty materials such as dextrin, and to separate cooked grains from each other the cooked rice is subjected to large water flows and the pasty materials are washed away. Then a mass of wet grains of rice is subjected to a freeze-drying treatment, and the resultant freeze-dried (FD) rice is packed under vacuum in a package. In a second process, instant or quick-cooking rice is manufactured to produce a retort-pouch rice which is obtained by heating raw material washed rice at high temperatures under pressure.
The conventional FD rice manufacturing method is defective in that dextrin and other nutritious ingredients of rice are washed away in the treating procedure for separating the cooked grains of the rice from each other. When cooked by the consumer, such rice has a reduced viscoflexibility, umami (palatable taste), texture and lucidness or gloss as compared with ordinary cooked rice. The drying step in this method is inevitable, as are long drying periods requiring the use of an uneconomical drying apparatus. On the other hand, the method of manufacturing the retort-pouch rice requires especially high temperature heating under pressure which requires using an expensive retort apparatus. In addition, cracking and thermal decomposition of the rice grains occurs and the nutrient value, taste, flavor and lucidness of the cooked rice is reduced.